Demonstrators in Jordan protest American troop presence

Anti-American protesters in Amman, Jordan on Friday (Al-Monitor)

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Last week, we reported that theU.S. announced the formal deployment of 200 troops to Jordan. Thetroops will be “ready for military action” if President Barack Obamawere to order it. On Friday, Jordanians rallied against thedeployment of the U.S. forces in Jordan. Demonstrators alsoburned a mock American flag. At the end of the demonstration, theygathered in a circle and danced, chanting about Ali Baba and the fortythieves. Al-Monitor

Jordan’s King Abdullah and Obama meet to discuss Syria

The question of the use of chemical weapons by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad continued to draw worldwide attention onFriday. President Barack Obama met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II inthe White House and said that “a line has been crossed” in Syria.

He said, “To use weapons of mass destruction on civilian populationscrosses another line in terms of international norms andlaws… That’s going to be a game changer.” However, he declinedto intervene militarily until a “vigorous investigation” had beencompleted to find more “direct evidence.”

However, Debka, which sometimes gets things wrong, is quoting itsmilitary intelligence sources as saying that the purpose of Obama’smeeting with Abdullah is to firm up an agreement for the U.S. todeploy a 20,000 troop “surge” into Jordan. The 200 troops announcedlast week are to lay the groundwork for the main body to take upquarters in the King Hussein Air Base Mafraq, near the borders of Iraqand Syria.

The purpose of the “surge” is to protect Jordan’s royalfamily both from jihadists from Syria and from an “Arab Spring” typerevolt — a step that the Obama administration did not take withTunisia, Libya, Egypt, or Yemen. The “surge” will be heavilycoordinated with Israeli forces, and buffer zones will be set up onSyria’s borders to prevent attacks on both Jordan and Israel.

ThisShia militias from Iraq and Hizbollah are aiding the al-Assad regimeforces and are threatening to defeat the opposition rebels. The Hill and Debka

Sunni Jihadists pour into Syria

With thousands of fighters from Iran-backed Shia militias arriving inSyria to support al-Assad’s regime, it’s not surprising that thousandsof Sunni jihadists are also arriving in Syria to fight the Shiamilitias. In particular, disaffected Muslims from Germany andelsewhere in Europe have been heading for Syria to receive training inweapons and terrorist techniques. German analysts are concerned thatthese fighters are gaining experience in Syria, making contacts,and will return to Germany and conduct terrorist attacks there.Spiegel